According to a letter to the editor penned by the Iowa State University group Leaders United for a Change (“LUCHA”), white privilege is a communicable disease and people must get tested in order to keep it from spreading around campus.
“White privilege is like a virus,” LUCHA’s letter states. “Carriers are often unaware of their infection for decades while spreading their disease to everyone they come in contact with.”
It continues:
The next time you use your mandatory health insurance and head to the doctor, tell him or her if you are experiencing these little-known symptoms:
You can get your hair cut wherever you want.
You can walk into the supermarket and find your favorite foods.
You can see yourself positively portrayed in the media.
You can speak your native tongue without getting looks or comments from other people.
Okay. So, basically, they’re saying that white privilege is the equivalent of HIV or herpes. Carriers don’t know they have it, and so they end up spreading it around to other people who don’t have it, and the cycle goes on from there.
Um, just one problem: Being able to get your hair cut wherever you want isn’t contagious, and whether or not you can find your favorite foods in the supermarket has absolutely nothing to do with how many white people you have exposed yourself to. In fact, white privilege is often defined as the inherent advantages that white people have just because they’re white people. Based on the social movement’s own definitions, “white privilege” could perhaps be compared to a genetic disease, but definitely not to a communicable one.
Gee . . . it’s almost as if these kids have no idea what they’re talking about.